'Don't Forget the Cannoli'

It wasn't quite a horse head in the bed but the message was clear: 'These cat biscuits you are trying to feed me?  Unacceptable.  I have a message:  The next person who feeds me these biscuits sleeps with the fishes.'

(Apologies to The Godfather)  

The old saying that dogs want to be your friends but cats are plotting to kill you is nicely illustrated by The Oatmeal here.

"Lucy, I can smell sadness!"

I started barbecuing some home made beef patties this evening and as the smoke wafted away I turned around to see this.

A Pleasant Walk in the Countryside - But Not in New Zealand

We live on a narrow, winding rural road with a 100km/h speed limit.  There are no footpaths, not even a gravel shoulder, just steep sided ditches next to the white line.  It is very typical of many rural roads in New Zealand and makes absolutely no provision for cyclists, walkers, horse riders etc.

If we were to go back thirty or forty years, the situation would have been quite different.  Our road would have been unsealed, potholed, with poor sightlines and wandering stock just around the corner.  The result (completely unintentional) would have been much slower vehicle speeds and as a consequence a much more pedestrian, cyclist and horse rider friendly environment.  This is still evident in less populated areas of the country - kids riding bikes and horses, people walking on the road.  So the current situation is a relatively new phenomenon.

Over the years our road has been improved; the humps and bumps taken out, corners smoothed, and the biggest change, the road was asphalted.  This has undoubtedly been very good for journey times, the economy, dust suppression.  It is arguable whether the improvements have resulted in real accident reduction though.  Cars have become safer regardless, but physics has not changed and the faster you go the bigger the mess as the ad says. 

But there are the other drawbacks mentioned above.  If you want to go for a walk or a run, visit the local store or get your kids safely to school the only option is to first get in a vehicle and drive - or is it?

A quick look at the government's Walking Access Commission website reveals that we are surrounded by public pathways, off the main roads and often connecting two otherwise un-passable dead end roads.  These are of course 'paper roads', originally drawn up by the government but never built by the local council.

Walking Access NZ map extract showing public land in purple

Unfortunately though, the local council does not see any value in signposting these routes, and in most instances the adjoining land owner has assumed possession of the public 'road', built fences and in some instances buildings on what is actually owned by all of us.

Ironically, in the United Kingdom, a country which many of our ancestors left to escape the class system and oppressive land owners the situation is very different.  Footpaths and public bridleways criss cross the countryside.

Photo by Adrian S Pye

Wikipedia

In most instances these are just marked trails, requiring very little investment or upkeep by the council and still providing amenity to farmers to be able to move stock around, if suitably fenced off.

A nice idea for New Zealand perhaps.

Tanks For All The Water

With the latest IPCC Report predicting more extreme weather for New Zealand and elsewhere in the world, water security will become ever more important.  Fortunately we have 50,000L of roof water storage at home which got us through a very dry summer with no concerns.

Our friends wanted to add some capacity to enable them to keep their vegetable garden going so I visited them on the weekend to give Rob a hand to get their new 25,000L tank into position.  It was a simple matter of slinging it behind the Hilux and pulling it up the hill.

Thanks to the other helper, Paul for the photos.  Now all they need is some rain to fill it up!

Dinosaur Footprints

This photo by Ramon Arellano shows footprints on a near vertical limestone rock face in Cal Orko, Bolivia.  This cliff would once have been a flat muddy shoreline, subsequently buried and then uplifted to an approximately 70 degree angle by tectonic forces.

Vowel Shortage Hits Auckland Street Signs

Pity the poor tourist.  This is on the main route between Auckland International Airport and the CBD at the corner of Manukau Road and Great South Road - or should that be TH CRNR F MNK RD ND GRT STH RD.  It's a five road intersection where, perversely, you take the very minor looking Alpers Avenue on the left to get on to the motorway and onwards to the CBD. 

Like our motorway signage, it's great if you've lived here for a while and know where you are going.  Otherwise, not so much.

Natural Wonders of New Zealand

The Waitomo Caves as featured in Twisted Sifter recently.  More information at www.waitomo.com

Chatoyancy

Chatoyancy is the optical property of the surface of a natural material such as wood to give the illusion of depth or three dimensions.

My lovely wife booked me on a two week course at the Centre for Fine Woodworking earlier this year.  The Centre is based just out of Nelson, N.Z. and runs short and full time courses.

The project was a wall cabinet with a curved or 'coopered' door, and shelves and a small drawer inside.

We were offered a selection of different woods to use for the drawer front.  I jumped at the chance to nab a piece of rippled New Zealand Red Beech (Nothfagus fusca).  When caught in the right light it has the appearance of a drawn curtain.

Developer Builds Terraced Houses, Forgets Front Doors

For the last year or so I have watched the construction of three blocks of eight terraced houses take shape in Auckland's Millwater subdivision.  Nice, a bit of medium density development to deal with the housing shortage.

One block is now finished, one nearly done and the third is being framed up.   Every unit is the same, with a pleasant garden and a set of steps leading up to a... blank wall.

Now, I'm sure the designer had his or her reasons for this, but it's all a bit post-modern in a post-post-modern world for me.  Maybe the new owners enjoy their isolation.  The message is certainly "Don't knock on our front door - we don't have one!"

About Nothing in Particular and Everything in General

This blog is not about scuba diving or wet sand, or any sand for that matter but as I sit here listening to equinox winds howling outside and cold spring showers periodically sheeting horizontally against the building I wistfully think back to 2005 and somewhere a long way away.

The Republic of Maldives, where I worked for the government for six months, and in my leisure time scuba dived in warm, clear water (There is not a lot else to do in the Maldives).  This photo was taken by my dive buddy Rowan Duval, who insisted that I be his model on each dive.  I must have been the least photogenic dive model he's had, and I'm sure I never made it in to any of his magazine articles but it was a memorable experience and it provided a nice counterbalance to working on the densely populated island city of Malé in the middle of the Indian Ocean.